Editor’s Notes: On Embracing...

Editor’s Notes: On Embracing Change

For the three years I’ve been running this magazine, my December Editor’s Notes has tended to focus on something Christmassy. But this December is special to me. This is a month that holds big, bold and brand-new life changes for me.

If you would have told me last year that next December I would have been writing my Editor’s Notes from a café in a town that wasn’t London, I probably would have said you were crazy. In my four years in the British capital, I’d lived more than I had in my almost three decades of life before landing there – I’d become a Londoner to the core and the thought of leaving the city to go anywhere else seemed, frankly, crazy.

But here I am, with the sound of seagulls and the most enchanting sunset view I’ve seen this side of the Mediterranean. As the Brighton clock tower lights come on and the sea glitters invitingly in the fading December sunshine, I take another sip of my salted caramel cappuccino and ask myself once again: how the hell did I end up here?

When all circumstances in your life line up to point towards one decision, albeit a scary one, the best you can do is close your eyes and leap. Even if it means leaving something you love. Even if it means not knowing what you’ll find. Even if it means starting anew, and not having an idea if you’re making the right decision.

So going forward I will be working on this magazine from cafés by the sea, taking morning runs in the sunshine (I keep telling myself) and sometimes, only sometimes, missing London.

DON’T say this to a friend moving to a different city:

“I knew someone who worked from home several times a week. It turned them into an asocial freak” – thanks for reinforcing my worst fear, I’ll remember to return the favour when you are getting married/having a kid/buying a house.

“Wow, the thought of leaving XXX would have TERRIFIED me” – it terrifies me too, that’s why I’m telling you, hoping you’ll have some reassuring words for me. Apparently I was mistaken and should just phone my mum again.

“There are better places if you want to be by the sea” – so you will be buying me a ticket to Hawaii, then?

“Nooo!” or different varieties of the following: crying-face emoji, sad emoji, broken heart emoji – I’m happy that you want me around, but while this may be endearing while one is still in the deciding stage, it’s simply saddening, and a bit annoying once I have signed my flat contract, booked my movers and packed my possessions into cardboard boxes.

DO say this:

“I will come and visit you” – it’s what we all want to hear. Especially if accompanied by a Whatsapp picture of your already-booked ticket.

Founder and Editor

A passionate changemaker, Sascha Camilli is the founder and editor-in-chief of Vilda Magazine. Born in Moscow and raised in Stockholm, she has also lived in Los Angeles, London, Milan and Florence, before landing in her current hometown of Brighton, UK. She was chosen as one of Vegan Good Life Magazine's Vegan Business Influencers of 2015 and nominated for Best Vegan Entrepreneur by Unicorn Goods Best of Vegan Awards 2017. She is also a Huffington Post blogger, a fashion writer for Plant-Based News, and a speaker at events such as VegFest and VegoVision Sweden. Her first book, a vegan fashion guide, is coming out in 2019.